Last spring, I was working at my computer and heard the strangest noise, it was a rapid thunk, thunk, thunk coming from the back porch area. Baffled, I tiptoed to the back of our apartment and looked out and there was a tiny bird having a field day ripping off threads from this synthetic material that covers the back porch.

After spotting the bird during its nest gathering destruction, I started noticing that bird and its mate all over the place. They were a tight pair and seemed to go everywhere together. One had a pretty red head and breast and the other was mostly shades of browns. I never managed to figure out where their nest was and every time I tried to take a photo they immediately flew away. Then after awhile I didn’t see them any more and never bothered to figure out what kind of birds they were.

Now the bird couple is back and I finally got a photo! I’ve been seeing and hearing them for about a month and a half. Sometimes they are hopping around in the grass in front of the building and sometimes singing away in the tree next to our building. I’ve seen them watching me from the telephone wire that runs above where my car is parked and once the red headed bird landed on one of the window slats in our front window when I was standing only five feet away.

After the window landing, I finally googled “what type of bird has a red head” and house finch came up right away. After looking at many photos, the bird couple is definitely a pair of house finches. They’re really fun to have around and seem to be all over the place, in fact I hear them singing as I type this. According to the All About Birds website, the male has red coloring and the female keeps a lower profile with grayish-brown tints.

Last week, I was working on my computer again and what do you know…there’s that noise again coming from the back porch…thunk, thunk, thunk, thunk. Ah ha! I knew it was my house finch friends, so I grabbed my camera and slowly walked over to the screen door. There was Mr. House Finch sitting on the back porch keeping guard as Mrs. House Finch ripped out more threads for the new nest directly below.

Mr. House Finch got a bit nervous when he heard the camera clicking away and flew off, but I could still hear him. In the meantime, Mrs. House Finch kept thunking away despite the absence of her security guard.

Then I looked up and there was Mr. House Finch keeping guard from the roof of the neighboring building. No wonder the missus was undeterred, she knew he still had her back. As soon as I tried to get closer on the back porch, they both flew away.

I would love to know where their nest is, but maybe it’s best to give them their privacy. Either way, I’m really glad they came back for another spring visit.